Since I first spotted a galley of Jonathan Franzen’s new novel, Freedom, on the F Train months ago, in the hands of a Brooklyn-bound woman, I’ve been anticipating its release. So when I got the announcement via Facebook that St. Mark’s Bookshop would be extending its hours to sell the book beginning at midnight last night, I figured I had to be there to capture the momentous occasion.

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Earlier in August I reported that the defunct Gordon Novelty Shop had been unsheathed. For a brief, shining moment, we were able to enjoy that gorgeous facade once more. A commenter then tipped us to the fact that Gordon’s demolition has begun–and a trip to the site confirmed that the death shroud has indeed been lowered.

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350 West Broadway has a lot to say. Words upon words wrap around its glass street-level exterior, the stuff of luxury condos. All that condo-porn verbiage.

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Six notable nightlife openings.

Fedora’s new owner: “I’m already bracing myself for the criticism that I’m going to get. People are going to say, ‘It’s not like Fedora, Fedora looked nothing like this.’ … I’m choosing to keep the name because it’s a great name. I’m keeping the bar because it’s brilliant, the original bar from 1917. Aside from that, it’s now our restaurant.” [Esquire]

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In the next installment of the Potemkin Village saga, the Chelsea Hotel erects fake stores in their empty storefronts. [LWL]

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